Translation: ESV
The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
God's holiness applies to every process of life, even natural events such as childbirth.
▸Leviticus 12 addresses the purification regulations for a woman after childbirth.
Leviticus 12 addresses the purification regulations for a woman after childbirth. By applying purity regulations even to the mysterious process of giving birth, God shows that the principle of holiness encompasses every domain of life.
"Speak to the people of Israel, saying, If a woman conceives and bears a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days. As at the time of her menstruation, she shall be unclean.
God ordained that every process of human life be understood within the framework of holiness.
▸After bearing a son, the mother is in a state of impurity for seven days.
And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
Circumcision is the sign of entrance into God's covenant people, and in the New Testament it is internalized as a transformation of the heart.
▸Circumcision on the eighth day is the sign of the Abrahamic covenant established in Genesis 17:12.
Then she shall continue for thirty-three days in the blood of her purifying. She shall not touch anything holy, nor come into the sanctuary, until the days of her purifying are completed.
God requires sufficient preparation and a period of purification for approaching what is holy.
▸After bearing a son, the mother requires a total of 40 days (7 + 33) of purification.
But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation. And she shall continue in the blood of her purifying for sixty-six days.
Within God's regulations there is also care for sufficient recovery and preparation time.
▸When a daughter is born, the impurity period is doubled (14 + 66 = 80 days).
"And when the days of her purifying are completed, whether for a son or for a daughter, she shall bring to the priest at the entrance of the tent of meeting a lamb a year old for a burnt offering, and a pigeon or a turtledove for a sin offering,
Recovery from ritual impurity is completed through worship — drawing near to God.
▸When the purification period was complete, the mother was to go to the tent of meeting and offer a burnt offering and a sin offering.
And if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two pigeons, one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering. And the priest shall make atonement for her, and she shall be clean."
God ensures that even the poor are not excluded from his holy community.
▸A poor mother who could not afford a lamb was permitted to offer two doves instead.